CHICAGO — For Miami Heat big man Udonis Haslem, it wasn’t easy to watch what was happening to his team in Game 1 of the East finals on Sunday night. Time and again, a shot would go up, and in its wake, a crowd of Bulls would follow. The Heat weren’t doing much to impede them, so rebounds frequently fell Chicago’s way—the Bulls had a 45-33 rebounding edge in the opener and dominated Miami in second-chance points.

“I was seeing guys running to the basket without bodies being put on them,” Haslem said. “That’s the first thing, we have to hit guys when shots go up.”

In Miami’s 85-75 win in Game 2 on Wednesday at the United Center, Haslem did some hitting. He played 23 minutes, scoring 13 points—nearly all coming, it seemed, just as the Bulls were making a run—with five rebounds and two assists, plus a block and a steal. While it’s not a remarkable line in the context of Haslem’s career with the Heat, it’s much more impressive considering he is coming off surgery for torn foot ligaments he suffered in November, an injury that limited him to seven minutes of playing time over the last six months.

Haslem didn’t look like a guy coming back from that kind of a layoff. He dunked (three times). He made jumpers (twice). He forced turnovers, committed hard fouls and, most important, brought the toughness that has been the hallmark of his largely underrated career. Compare the effort level of the Heat in Game 2 to that in Game 1, and it doesn’t take much to figure out the difference. It was Haslem.

“It was certainly inspirational, the minutes that he gave us,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s who he has been his entire career. He has always led us in charges taken, hits, dives on the floor—we chart all of those things. He’s the all-time leader in all of our hustle categories. He’s smart, he’s tough, he does all the little intangibles. And that’s why we’ve always said that the image of a Miami Heat player (is) Udonis Haslem.”

If there is one teammate who understands Haslem’s value, it’s star guard Dwyane Wade, who came into the league with Haslem eight years ago. This summer, Haslem was a free agent and had offers on the table from Dallas and Denver worth up to $34 million over five years. But Wade took less money as a free agent himself, with the expressed goal of keeping Haslem in the fold. Haslem, in turn, passed up on richer offers to take a $20 million, five-year deal to stay in Miami.

On Tuesday, Wade was reminded just why he had sacrificed some of his paycheck. “He was the player of the game,” Wade said. “That’s what we’ve been missing out there all year without him. He goes five-for-10 and shows his determination and heart out there. He came back early, before he was supposed to with that injury, and showed what he was made of.”

The injury has dominated what was supposed to be a very sweet season for Haslem, a year in which he would be a dirty-work support-system for stars Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Instead, the torn ligaments he suffered on Nov. 20 required surgery and kept him out longer than anticipated.

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“It’s been difficult not knowing when my number is going to be called,” Haslem said. “But I just stayed focused. I continued to work every day with coach Keith Askins. The coaching staff has been patient with me. My teammates have been patient with me. We saw some results tonight.”

They certainly did—so much so that Spoelstra, who has been reluctant to play Haslem despite a dearth of quality big men, is wishing he had gotten Haslem back into the rotation a little earlier. “What he did tonight, it’s remarkable,” Spoelstra said. “He hasn’t really been in a game, and now I question myself for not trying him earlier. But there was an incredible unknown. We hadn’t seen him in a game.”

After what he showed in Game 2, though, it’s safe to say that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Haslem in this series.